Police launch massive
manhunt for national student leader

By Lance Guma
21 December 2006

Police have launched a
massive manhunt for the President of the Zimbabwe National Students Union
(ZINASU), Promise Mkwananzi. In copies of a police memorandum made available to
Newsreel, The Officer in Charge of the Criminal Investigation Department (Law
and Order section) alerted all stations, patrols, roadblocks and deployments to
be on the lookout for Mkwananzi. The memo says the ZINASU leader is wanted ‘in
connection with a case of participating in a gathering with intent to promote
public violence, breaches of peace or bigotry (sic).’ It further states that
Mkwananzi is moving around colleges in the country meeting students. The
registration number of the vehicle in use was also listed. ‘If arrested, detain
and advise loc (location)’ the memo ends.

A defiant Mkwananzi told
Newsreel he had been advised by his lawyers not to hand himself in until the
police had laid out the charges. Police officers in Harare told lawyers that
the police inspector dealing with the case is away on holiday and will only
deal with the matter when he comes back. Surprisingly the police memo is dated
17 November 2006 and up until now Mkwananzi has evaded the police attention. He
says the police are trying to criminalise all forms of activism in Zimbabwe as
a way of blocking political reform. Several other student leaders have been
expelled or suspended with others like Mkwananzi and his Vice President Gideon
Chitanga being barred from writing exams.

The ZINASU president told
Newsreel that as students they could not ‘confine themselves to the ivory tower
of academic freedoms,’ since bread and butter issues also affected their
welfare. He conceded that his mother and father were clearly worried about his
welfare and safety but in his own words, ‘we are a contemporary generation,
fighting beyond the Zanu PF era, beyond the vision which they have and they now
understand the need for leadership renewal.’ The police meanwhile betrayed
their determination to catch Mkwananzi in the memo posted to all police
stations around the country. A note added to the memo and written in red ink
close to the date stamp read out, ‘all members, take note and arrest this
suspect please.’

NB: For the full interview with
Promise Mkwananzi tune in to Behind the Headlines with Lance Guma.